Debate of the Day: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

No, it’s not a specific question as usual, but I’m sure plenty of you have thoughts on the just-released Dark Knight Rises trailer, which is probably the single most anticipated spot of the year.

I saw it this weekend in the theater before Mission Impossible (my IMAX copy had the trailer, not the six minute prologue) and now I’ve watched it a few times since.

My general sense is “pretty awesome, but no Dark Knight,” and really, that’s what I’m expecting for the movie as a whole. I’m just going in assuming that the new film CAN’T be as good as The Dark Knight was, and I believe that I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. The trailer shows the plot revolves around something akin to class warfare, and Bane is leading the charge against Gotham’s rich and powerful with Catwoman slinking in the shadows.

I’ve seen a real divide between people who can easily understand what Bane says (both here and in the prologue) and those that can’t. Personally, I only was able to catch half of what he said (“you have my permission to die) but the other half (“when Gotham is in ashes”) blew through my ears multiple times. Some people have said they have no problem understanding him, but many have said it’s a chore. Can you? What do you think about the rest of the trailer?

About The Author

Paul

I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

mike

Bane’s voice in the prologue was really tough to understand. I saw it in IMAX (not a boot leg)….I was able to understand about half of what he said. The other stuff I had no idea and had to read the script pages that were uploaded. Even after reading the pages, and watching the bootlegged prologue multiple times afterwards I still don’t catch it all.

I really hope they fix it. Imagine if you had trouble understanding the Joker in TDK? The villain’s lines are very important in these sorts of stories.

Gabriel

To be honest, I thought the trailer was amazing. I am very much looking forward to this movie. I never sit around and compare movies to previous installments, instead when I watch a movie (Especially sequels or prequels) I seperate that movie into a seperate movie from the rest. I know it won’t stand up to the Joker in Dark Knight, but when I am watching it you better believe that I won’t even be thinking about the 2nd batman movie

Jason

Eh, I could understand perfectly what he was saying.. I’ve been feeling pretty “meh” about this movie for awhile now, though.

carlip

i want clayface god damn it

Lima Zulu

I’m sure it’ll be the best movie ever if Tom Hardy kills himself after filming.

David

What are the people yelling in the background? I can’t make it out?

Steve

When I saw “Begins” in theaters the 3rd time, the theater had subtitles. I think all the theaters that play this will have to as well.

http://mihaiborcan.blogspot.com Mihai

Never mind that, but who’s gonna die in this movie to make it more dramatic? That’s a better debate.
My money is on Alfred.

Me

Yay less subtelty and more splosions! Nananananana Die Hard! I mean Rambo! I mean… oh who cares, I’m sure it’ll be as poorly made as The Dark Knight and no one will notice because this time Heath Ledger ISN’T in it

Ed

David, they’re chanting: Deshi Ba sha Rah..or something along the lines. Hans Zimmer asked a couple months ago for people everywhere to submit their own recordings and see if he could integrate it into the soundtrack. Kinda like how they got people at a stadium to record Orc chants for LOTR. According to this trailer, the chant means RISE.

Jason M

We get to see a lot of Pittsburgh Steelers blown up, so…that’s a plus.

As far as Bane is concerned…he just doesn’t look menacing enough. Bane’s a monster.

http://snarknotes1.tumblr.com/ Sara C.

@Lima Zulu Congratulations, you’ve won.

What?

The movie looks like it will be a-freaking-mazing. I just hope they don’t show anything else from the movie because I have seen enough.

Aaron

This movie does look like it’ll be awesome, but I have to agree with you on this one. It’s no dark knight. I don’t think the movie just could be as good without the Joker. I found myself enthralled more with him than I was batman that entire movie.

Lucas

I was impressed with the trailer though it obviously doesn’t give much away. Hathaway’s lines in the ballroom scene are great. I do think this one will be larger in scope than Dark Knight which will make it more difficult to pull off for Nolan. But if anyone has shown they can do it it’s him.

Regarding Bane’s voice, I saw the prologue and it was difficult to make out what he was saying about half the time and he did have a lot of lines as opposed to the trailer. I actually really like the way his voice sounded with the accent and mechanical, muffled twang to it when I could hear it, but they will have to find a way to make it either louder, clearer or both in post-production or a lot of people are going to have problems with the finished film.

I know everyone is partial to the Joker, but after viewing the prologue I think Bane can be every bit the villain that the Joker was. That six minute introduction gives you everything you need to know about the level he is on in terms of intelligence, physical gifts and his ability to lead other men. He’s going to be pretty impressive in the final film.

BobaFett

Is it me or does Michael Caine/Alfred sound weird?

http://www.the-back-row.com Gill

I’m not saying this to sound like an arrogant dork, but this movie is going to friggin’ rule. I’m shocked that people are even having doubts about its quality – hasn’t Christopher Nolan earned our trust by now? When The Dark Knight was gearing up for its release, everyone was skeptical about Ledger as the Joker, and look how that turned out! This movie is going to be amazing – my money’s on the best threequel of all time.

matt

I agree with Gabriel. TDK is arguably my favorite movie of all time, for sure top 5, and in order to fully enjoy this last installment, I simply must not compare the two. Tom Hardy is going to be awesome as Bane, I can just tell from his role in Inception and seeing the prologue and trailer a number of times. One of the many keys to this movie being as epic as everyone hopes is Bane’s voice issues being solved and, of course, the ending, where I’m 99% convinced Bruce Wayne will die. The poster heavily suggests it and it just makes perfect sense. There was an article a week or two ago explaining why this must and will happen along with the proposed idea of nolan making two separate “pledge, turn and prestige” “threequels,” which was truly brilliant. Now, I don’t know how it’s possible to top inception (the prestige, inception, ??) or TDK (batman begins, TDK, TDKR), but alas this brings me to the most important key to this film: Christopher Nolan. For over a decade now, he’s been blowing my mind, film after film, and I even though right now I can’t forsee TDKR being as good as TDK or even Inception, I would be a fool to totally dismiss it as well. I would have trouble saying that about any other director, but Nolan has proven himself time and time again, and there is simply no reason to rule out the possibility of him doing it once more.

Diva D

I don’t really care whether it’s “better” than TDK or not. Personally, I don’t think that TDK is miles away better than Batman Begins (or, off-topic, The Prestige). It’s certainly easier to like, but the depth of the story and quality of filmmaking are pretty comparable.

I think Bane looks pretty scary, Catwoman’s motives are interesting, and the whole movie looks steeped in this somber sort of gloom that is very intriguing to me. The Dark Knight succeeded for me primarily because watching it was like getting punched in the gut. I hope that the emotional content in the new movie is as potent.

Frankly, I don’t know what about TDK makes it seem impossible to top, other than the fact that it’s pretty much perfect. Then again, Batman Begins was pretty much perfect, just telling a different story. I’m assuming Nolan is smart enough to not try and rehash TDK, therefore I doubt one will be obviously better to me.

Shiki

Even if the movie isn’t going to be as good as TDK or BB, i’m not saying it wont, it will still be a great movie i think. Come on, it is Batman!!! Bane looks sick, Catwomen looks hot, the effects look pretty cool as does the Batwing, and as far as story goes, there is no reason to doubt it as it is Nolan. So the movie is going to be good, but the real question is: “is it going to dissapoint?”. We are all having big expectations for the movie and I think we should turn them down a bit IMHO.

MetFanMac

This trailer leaves me feeling very ambivalent. I had no idea what Bane was saying and thus probably won’t watch it an a movie theater where there is no “rewind” button. Also, while the similarity between the literal class warfare and the Occupy movement is coincidental rather than deliberate, the timing of the release will lead to conscious or unconscious comparisons anyway. Also, I hope they establish in-film how long has passed since TDK, and that Michael Caine’s voice is muddled because of his emotions in that scene and not throughout the movie.

Also, this is not in the trailer, but: anesthetic gas? Really? That’s Bane’s shtick?